The Texas Politics Project

Support for Federal and State Actions on Economic and Social Issues (February 2014)

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Respondents were asked the following questions:

Q36A. Generally speaking, do you support or oppose actions by the federal government on economic issues?

Q36B. Generally speaking, do you support or oppose actions by the federal government on social issues?

Q37A. Generally speaking, do you support or oppose actions by the state government on social issues?

Q37B. Generally speaking, do you support or oppose actions by the state government on social issues?

Measurement of partisan identification for this figure is based on two questions. First, respondents were asked whether they consider themselves to be a Democrats, Republicans, independents, other, or not sure. Those who responded that they are independents or "other" were then asked if they lean toward either the Democrats or Republicans. If they indicated that they lean toward one party or the other, they are considered Democrats or Republicans for the purposes of this figure. Only "pure" independents or members of a third party who indicate that they have no preference for Democrats vis-a-vis Republicans are considered independents . Respondents who answered that they are "not sure" for either of the two aforementioned questions are not incorporated into this figure.

Tea Party identification is based on the following question, also asked in the survey: "Suppose the Tea Party movement organized itself as a political party. When thinking about the next election for Congress, would you vote for the Republican candidate from your district, the Democratic candidate from your district, or the Tea Party candidate from your district?" Those who responded "Democratic candidate" are considered Democrats, those who responded "Republican candidate" are considered Republicans (non-Tea Party movement), and those who responded "Tea Party candidate" are considered Tea Party Republicans.

The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" For the purposes of this table, respondents placing themselves 1, 2, or 3 are considered "liberal"; those placing themselves at 5, 6, or 7 are considered "conservative"; and those placing themselves at 4 are considered "moderate".